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dvboy · 12-10-2004, 00:32

My TV was put in on 7/10/2004 - phone worked fine within a day but my TV hasn't been activated yet. After reading the most recent posts I'll certainly be on the phone to Customer Services in the morning. Meanwhile, here's my story which I fear is near normal for the average NTL customer...

I've had nothing but trouble with NTL when I first signed up on 16/8/2004 - I signed up for a two month free trial of Broadband in a shopping centre after asking about their offers because I was moving into a new house. I and was given my first install date by the salesman of 31/8/2004. I called the salesman to cancel this one because I wasn't going to be there
(I hadn't moved in yet) but still someone turned up - at the same time I said I wanted a TV and phone package and was promised a call back I never got. The new Broadband install date I was given was 7/9/2004 but no-one turned up. After several calls I gave up on the salesman and my calls to Customer Service put me in a maze of menus and half-an-hour of hold music, so I called NTL's head office. They gave me an 'earliest possible' install date of 25/9/2004 which I refused because it was too far ahead, and was in an afternoon when I specifically requested a morning installation. I decided I wasn't going to persue a TV and phone package until I had got my Broadband problem solved. My broadband eventually got put in on 17/9/2004 after they found an earlier date. On that date I signed up for a TV and phone package on the NTL website with an install date of 28/9/2004, and an email confirming my order. Meanwhile on 25/9/2004 I got a bill from NTL for a month of Broadband service which was supposed to be free. A call to their head office again on 29/9/2004 and I was referred the Sales team (amazing how quickly they answered my call!). I was then told that there was no record of my TV/phone package order on NTL's computer system, and that the best way to order packages is over the phone, not over the internet - if ordering over the internet doesn't work, why do NTL offer it?! Anyway I got myself a package ordered and a new install date of 7/10/2004. The engineer turned up at 8:45am, put everything in and said it would take a couple of hours for the phone to be activated and all of the channels of my package to come through. I couldn't check the phone until I bought a handset the next day, and it was working, but the TV would still only let me watch BBC1,2,3,4, News 24, CBBC, CBeebies, ITV1,2 and Channel 4. I called Customer Services the same day and after 45 minutes of hold music, an advisor told me there was a problem with the software that activated the settop boxes, which had been tested "the other night" - he took the number from my box's smart card and put it in a database, and said it could be a few days, maybe a week before anything happens. I was told I won't be charged for my TV service until it's activated - we'll see when the bill comes. Since then, I've periodically reset the box at the mains which supposedly sends the smart card's data up the system to see what I should be receiving. It's 11/10/2004 today and I've had no joy yet...

Oh, and all of this time, I've never been asked for my bank account details for direct debit, despite being told at least four times that I'd need to give them at some stage.

12-10-2004, 00:32	#39
dvboy Inactive Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Birmingham Age: 42 Posts: 36	Re: how long does it take My TV was put in on 7/10/2004 - phone worked fine within a day but my TV hasn't been activated yet. After reading the most recent posts I'll certainly be on the phone to Customer Services in the morning. Meanwhile, here's my story which I fear is near normal for the average NTL customer... I've had nothing but trouble with NTL when I first signed up on 16/8/2004 - I signed up for a two month free trial of Broadband in a shopping centre after asking about their offers because I was moving into a new house. I and was given my first install date by the salesman of 31/8/2004. I called the salesman to cancel this one because I wasn't going to be there (I hadn't moved in yet) but still someone turned up - at the same time I said I wanted a TV and phone package and was promised a call back I never got. The new Broadband install date I was given was 7/9/2004 but no-one turned up. After several calls I gave up on the salesman and my calls to Customer Service put me in a maze of menus and half-an-hour of hold music, so I called NTL's head office. They gave me an 'earliest possible' install date of 25/9/2004 which I refused because it was too far ahead, and was in an afternoon when I specifically requested a morning installation. I decided I wasn't going to persue a TV and phone package until I had got my Broadband problem solved. My broadband eventually got put in on 17/9/2004 after they found an earlier date. On that date I signed up for a TV and phone package on the NTL website with an install date of 28/9/2004, and an email confirming my order. Meanwhile on 25/9/2004 I got a bill from NTL for a month of Broadband service which was supposed to be free. A call to their head office again on 29/9/2004 and I was referred the Sales team (amazing how quickly they answered my call!). I was then told that there was no record of my TV/phone package order on NTL's computer system, and that the best way to order packages is over the phone, not over the internet - if ordering over the internet doesn't work, why do NTL offer it?! Anyway I got myself a package ordered and a new install date of 7/10/2004. The engineer turned up at 8:45am, put everything in and said it would take a couple of hours for the phone to be activated and all of the channels of my package to come through. I couldn't check the phone until I bought a handset the next day, and it was working, but the TV would still only let me watch BBC1,2,3,4, News 24, CBBC, CBeebies, ITV1,2 and Channel 4. I called Customer Services the same day and after 45 minutes of hold music, an advisor told me there was a problem with the software that activated the settop boxes, which had been tested "the other night" - he took the number from my box's smart card and put it in a database, and said it could be a few days, maybe a week before anything happens. I was told I won't be charged for my TV service until it's activated - we'll see when the bill comes. Since then, I've periodically reset the box at the mains which supposedly sends the smart card's data up the system to see what I should be receiving. It's 11/10/2004 today and I've had no joy yet... Oh, and all of this time, I've never been asked for my bank account details for direct debit, despite being told at least four times that I'd need to give them at some stage.